Where You Belong

"You think Momma should wear....the pirate wench costume or...the Little Mermaid costume?" I asked Mason, shooting him a smile as I held him in my arms, staring at the two costumes laid out on Zack's bed.

Mason made a noise, though I didn't exactly expect him to know what I was talking about, or to answer back. He was barely six months old, afterall.

"How 'bout I sit you on the bed, and you can turn your little head in the direction of the one you like, eh?" I joked, knowing that at such a young age, an infant couldn't even sit up. I lay Mason on his stomach and grinned, watching as he turned his head in the direction of the pirate costume. "An excellent choice, baby." I cooed, scooping him up into my arms again before walking out of Zack's room and over to the nursery.

Once inside the nursery, I lay Mason down, as it was nearing the time for one of his many naps. I sang softly to him for a minute or two, gently rubbing a hand up and down his stomach in hopes to lull him to sleep. It worked after a few minues, and once I knew he was down, I kissed his forehead, cut on some soothing sounds to play in the room, and made my way back to Zack's room.

The clock read that it was nearing half past five, so I kicked it into high gear, as the rest of the girls were expected around six. Lacey was already here, as she'd spent the day with Mason and I. I quickly showered and dressed myself in the costume, starting with the black fishnets. The itchy and yet rather revealing blood red dress was next, rising high above my knees and was made of a velvety material. I completed the look with dark, knee-high boots and a large, piratey looking hat that matched the dress.

I honestly felt like Captain Morgan.

I moved onto my makeup, coating my lips in red lipstick and lining my eyes with dark eyeliner. I kept it simple for the most part, though I really worked hard on my eyes. I added a shitload of dark mascara, but was happy with the results in the end. I stepped back and looked at myself in the full length mirror in the bathroom, smiling at my appearance.

"Britt!" I heard Lacey call from downstairs.

With a sigh, I made my way down to the kitchen, where I found Lacey racing around in circles with various bowls. Shaking my head, I walked over to her and placed my hands on her shoulders, "Calm yourself, love."

She looked at me incredulously, "Calm myself? Do you see how much stuff we have yet to get done around here? I--"

"Just take a deep breath and pace yourself," I interjected, smoothly stepping in and removing the tray of homemade chex mix from her hands. I checked to see how warm they were before brushing a thin honey spread over them with an barbeque brush, then dumped them all in a large bowl.

Lacey sighed loudly, "You're such a good mom already; you're like, made to do this stuff."

I stifled a giggle and shrugged, "It's something I've always enjoyed doing, is all. You'll get the hang of keeping up with everything eventually," I said, moving around her and checking the oven for marinated chicken I had placed in there earlier. Seeing that everything was going smoothly with the chicken, I turned to the other countertop and began setting out large mugs for hot chocolate and tea. "Lacey, I'll get everything else if you just begin on all of the candy and check on Mason."

I didn't have to tell her twice, as she immediately jumped at the chance to leave the kitchen and walked off into the living room. I sat at the island and quickly made some mashed potatos, while watching the asparagus cook on the other burner beside the potatoes. When I was sure they were nearly done, I kept them both on low heat and began making punch, using sherbet ice cream, sprite, and juice. I also laid out glasses for drinks, though I knew each of the girls would be able to raid Zack's liquor cabinet and find their own poision-- if he owned anything other than Jack.

"Helloooo!" I heard Val's voice and smiled, waving as her head popped in the room. With a giggle she walked forward, followed by Leana and Michelle, and took a seat at the island. "I don't know what you're making in here, but it smells amazing!"

I smirked, "Thanks, baby doll."

Looking at my friends, I couldn't help but to smile. Leana was dressed as a fairy, wearing tights, ballet flats, and a skirted neon leotard of sorts, all while covered from head to toe in glitter and sparkles.

Val was dressed as a sexy Alice from Alice in Wonderland, wearing a rather revealing version of the Alice costume. Her outfit was blue and white, short, and lowcut, something that's not normally expected from Val. It suited her, however, and I thought she looked great.

Michelle was clearly a vampire, with pasty white makeup, red lips, and the unmistakable fangs and blood trailing from the corner of her mouth. The seductive black dress and heels were also a dead giveaway.

"Is there anything you need us to do, B?" Lee asked, setting her bag down on an empty bar stool and walking over to the bowl of chex mix, taking a handful for herself.

"You can go ahead and take everything out into the living room," I shrugged, turning my attention back to the potatos and asparagus, "I'm just about done with everything; I'm just waiting on the chicken."

It was a few more minutes before I'd finally finished the meal and had cleaned the kitchen behind myself. As I began bringing various pots and dishes into the dining room, the girls nearly salivated in their seats with anticipation. Lacey and Val worked together on setting up all the desserts and sweet goodies that we'd end up pigging out on later.

"Alright, ladies, I think we're ready," I smiled, placing a pan of homemade macaroni and cheese onto the long dining room table. I noticed that Michelle immediate began eyeing it from her spot across the table and smirked to myself.

"Dude, this looks absolutely amazing," Leana gushed, hurriedly picking up her fork. I heard mumbles of agreeent as the girls took turns loading their plates down with food.

"Lace, is Mason asleep again?" I asked, noticing that my son was nowhere to be seen.
Lacey noticed my discomfort and nodded with a smile, "Yeah. He was getting fidgety so I put him down." she said, causing me to sigh in relief and nod.

"So, he's down for the night?" Michelle asked, taking a bite of some bread Lacey had made earlier.

I shook my head, "Most likely not. I hadn't fed him before Lacey had him and he's still on breastmilk. It may be a few hours before he wakes back up." I shrugged as Michelle nodded in understanding.

I listened as everyone made small talk, choosing to keep quiet and dwell in my thoughts. I'd been thinking about the guys a lot recently. It was honestly as if part of me was gone, and while I knew I could handle that feeling as long as I had the girls, I didn't necessarily like having that feeling. It seemed as though the anticipation balled in my stomach got worse and worse each passing day, and I didn't know how much longer I'd be able to keep it together.

I was also nervous about seeing the guys again. The more I thought about it - and I thought about it a lot - the more I realized just how important Zack, along with the others, were to me. There wasn't a moment in the day where I didn't think about my newfound feelings for my best friend, no matter how small and insignificant they seemed.

I wasn't sure what I'd do with myself once everyone came back and I had to face Zack, after my sudden revelation. I just knew that I was dying to see him, feelings or no feelings. And I knew that only more time around him could enlighten me as to how I could possibly feel about him.

But on the other hand, why bother? Best friend or not, he was an international rockstar. He was famous, and had thousands of fans chasing after him, and could have any girl he could possibly want. Why would it matter that his best friend felt anything for him? Why would he ever be interested in a girl with loads of problems and a baby?

Maybe I should take my head out of my ass and smell the pampers.

I didn't have the time to worry about my social life, or my love life at that. I was a single mother, and Mason needed to be my primary - no, my sole - focus. He only had me, and I had to do right by him. I wouldn't do as the other young mothers seemed to do, and dump him off on relatives, or be too busy partying and socializing to see him complete his developmental milestones.

No. I would do everything I could to make sure he had the life that not many children born to young mothers had. He would visit his grandparents and family friends, but he would stay at home with me at night. He wouldn't always have a bag packed full of his things, ready to be shipped off to the first person's house.

My love life would just have to go on the backburner for a bit...

"Britt?" I heard Val's voice and turned my head to see her concerned gaze, smiling at the maternal look she'd always given me. "You're mighty quiet, sweetie. Something on your mind?"

As soon as she said that, three other pairs of eyes zeroed in on my face. Thanks, Val.

I shrugged, "Just stuff," I answered vaguely, tearing a piece of bread from my plate and placing it into my mouth. I chewed slowly, hoping that the girls would see me eating and hold off on the questions.

"Stuff like...." Lacey began, soon to be followed by Leana.

"Jumping Zacky's bones?"

No such luck, I see.

Val gasped, smacking her twin's arm, "Michelle!"

"What?" Michelle retorted, "It was a simple question!"

I rolled my eyes, "Not quite, Chelle."

"But you were thinking about him?" Leana guessed knowingly, shooting me one hell of a smirk.

I sighed loudly, leaning back in my chair, "Y'all, we're so not going through this again. This is my night off. Let me breathe, 'kay thanks, peace." I countered dismissively, reaching forward to take a sip of my tea.

"I'll take that as a yes," Lacey mumbled to Michelle with a dopey grin.

Here we go.

"Guys, give it a fucking rest!" I groaned, watching as Leana giggled while munching on some potatoes. I crossed my arms over my chest and grumbled to myself; it was the same old shit with these fools I called friends.

Val giggled, too, deciding to jump in and play referee, "Alright, girls, leave her alone."

Lacey opened her mouth to make what I presumed to be a slick comment, but I shot her a nasty glare. Instead, her mouth closed, though she did stifle a few giggles of her own. Rolling my eyes, I stood up from my chair and pushed it into the table.

"Britt, where are you going?" Val called as I walked in the direction of the living room.

"I wanna watch movies, duh," I stated playfully over my shoulder, "Who's got the dirty dishes? Nose goes!" I called out, immediately placing my finger on top of my nose.

As I walked into the living room, I leaned forward to look at all the sweets Lacey had set up on the glass coffee table. A punch bowl filled to the brim with candy lay in the center, with other dishes of cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and other sweets were spaced around it. I grabbed a starburst out of the candy bowl before taking a seat on the large, leather couch.

"AH! Lace, you're on dish duty!" I heard Michelle screech with laughter.

A loud thud sounded fromm the other room, "Nooooo! I wasn't last!"

"Yes you were!" came Michelle's voice again.

"No I wasn't!"

"Yeah, Lace. You were." Leana cackled loudly.

"But I--"

My attention was taken from the rest of the girls' argument as Val entered the room with a glass of wine and her phone. She silently sat next to me, typing away on the keys of her phone for a minute before putting it away and turning to me.

"You know," she began, laughing to herself when I huffed aloud, "Oh, relax! I was just gonna tell you that I'm here no matter what you decide to do," she answered knowingly.

I groaned, "Is it that obvious?"

She chuckled, "I just know what to look for."

I humphed, just as the rest of the girls came barrelling in. I looked towards the baby monitor on the end table to my left, seeing that there was no real noise going on in the nursery upstairs. I turned my attention back to my friends, watching as Leana bounded over to the DVD bin.

"Okay, first movie of the night!" Lee announced, closing the bin and pulling a movie out of her purse instead, "How about The Notebook!" she sqealed in excitement, holding up the DVD case.

Val looked unimpressed, and Lacey just stared. Michelle rolled her eyes and snatched the movie from her, "Get real, Lee. It's Halloween, not fucking Valentine's Day."

"How about," Lacey began slowly, getting up and rooting through Zack's collection, "Bride of Chucky?"

"And make me scared to go to sleep in my own house at night? Hell no!" Lee shrieked, causing me to snort. She shot me a nasty look, but I paid her no mind.

Lacey sighed, "Okay, Little Mermaid, then?" she asked lamely, though Val, Lee, and I shrieked with excitement.

"OOH, YES!"

"Little Mermaid!"

"DO THAT ONE!"

Michelle sighed, "Well, the odds have it."

"Damn right, we do," Val smirked at her twin, grabbing a cupcake and curling up on the couch.

As Lacey began loading in the DVD, the doorbell rang. Leana jumped up to get it, squealing about trick-or-treaters outside. She grabbed one of the many candy bowls by the front door and took it with her, yanking open the door as a group of little kids screamed the magic words.

"Honestly, they're all bigger than she is." Michelle muttered under her breath, and Lacey broke out into giggles.

The movie previews came on, but Val demanded that we not fast-forward through them. I leaned forward to get a couple of cookies and some candy, leaning back as my phone buzzed in my pocket. With a grunt, I held the sweets tight to my chest as I dug in my back pocket for my phone, smiling triumphantly when I managed to locate it.

Clicking the screen, I felt butterflies swarm through my chest as I read the short text from Zack.

FedEx me some cupcakes?

I swear, that boy was always thinking about food. But luckily, I enjoyed fixing a lot of food so it worked out. He was usually my taste tester whenever I thought of something to make. With a giggle, I typed my reply.

How'd you know there were cupcakes?

It was only a minute before Zack had replied to my last message, which made me smile. I could still hear Leana's tiny little voice talking with trick-or-treaters abd giggling, so I continued typing.

B, it's a holiday. You always use holidays as a legit excuse for cupcakes. :P

Well, he was right. I loved a good excuse to cover every surface of whatever available kitchen there was with colorful cupcakes. I could've opened my own damn bakery while I was pregnant with Mason because I was baking cupcakes all the time. Omce again, I replied.

True. Very true. Problem with that, Baker?

Once again, his response arrived promptly.

Not as long as you send me some. Better yet, just FedEx yourself. Then I'd be happy. :D

I rolled my eyes. Zack had to be the biggest goof I'd ever known, next to Brian, of course. I began typing a reply as Leana went back to open the front door again. I didn't catch onto what she was saying as I typed up a quick, quirky message to send back to Zack, but I wish I'd been paying attention.

Pressing send, I turned my attention from my phone with a smile and looked up, just in time to gaze into a pair of light brown eyes. My body went rigid and my breath caught in my throat as I looked on in disbelief.

There was no fucking way this was happening right now.